Summer Holidays: Gone
by VeNtiNo
Summary: Mix in two part friends with one part student cultural exchange program, add in plenty of mis-adventures and you get a lifetime of memories.


**Summary:** Mix in two part friends with one part student cultural exchange program, add in plenty of mis-adventures and you get a lifetime of memories.

**Disclaimer:** It's simple, really: Whatever you recognize is not mine, but anything other than that is part of my figment. Brand names are not mine, or else I'd be stinking rich right now. The storyline MIGHT have been picked up somewhere, but I tossed and ran with it.

**A/N:** Hey guys! I dunno why, but I'm starting a new story, although the rest of my stories are unfinished. 'Don't Wanna Try' is on halt at the moment, but WILL resume soon. No idea when, but it will. Meanwhile, check my new story out. Review please, and thanks in advance!

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_One fine day...._

All was well in the Great Hall of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students were milling around, trying to but some extra time before entering class. Some were only arriving, and were eating like there was no tomorrow. It was peaceful, and a slight breeze was playing across the hall, cooling down the room. It was all well, until....

"You bloody git! Get your oily hands away from my History of Magic notes, dammit!" shrieked Aria Merall to Sirius Black. She made a futile attempt to grab her notes back but was greeted with obvious disappointment as the taller boy lifted his hand that held her noted high into the air, making full use of his comfortable 6-foot plus height to make her even agitated.

"Damn it, Black, give me my notes back! I need it!" she said, jumping up to get her notes but in response, he held it even higher. She being 5'5 did not help. Sirius grinned at his long-time good friend.

"Give me a good reason, and I will Aria, m'dear," he said. In his other hand he held poppy seed muffin and he took a bite out of it, leaving a trail of crumbs falling onto his black school robes.

"You want a good reason? I'll give you a good reason," Aria said, raising her fist in his face. He still grinned at her actions. Her dark hair that she had added red and blue undertones was falling out of her elegant bun and framed her now red pixie face.

"Good, but not good enough," Sirius said, his eyes dancing merrily. He relished the fact that he was one of the few males in school that could actually tick her off. But it was well worth it; she looked beautiful when she was angry.

"Oh? Imagine this, Black. This time next year you will be begging on your knees for those precious notes. And guess what? I'm not giving it to you," she said, her hands on her hips. She blew her bangs from out of her eyes and waited for him to understand what she was saying.

"I can always borrow Remus's, or Lily's at the very least," he said, trying not to act like he was bothered. He shifted his weight to the other foot, feeling somewhat perturbed by what she said. True, he always ran to her when he needed notes for what was perhaps the dullest subject there is.

"Yes, well, but you can only understand _my _notes, not theirs. Why do you think you've been running to me before every History of Magic exams for my notes with Butterbeers and chocolates, Sirius?" she asked. She gave up trying to reach her notes and sank into one of the chairs in the Great Hall, picking a leftover piece of scone before it was all cleared before classes. Sirius looked like he was giving what she said a lot of thought.

"Wel-ll," he began slowly, stroking his chin for full effect. Aria rolled her eyes and kicked his leg. He yelped in pain and swiftly kicked her back. She threw the rest of her scone at his head and it bounced off and landed on the floor, breaking into pieces.

"Last chance, Black," she said, getting up and crossing her arms again. Her eyes could have bored holes right thru his head. He stuck out his tongue at her in a childish-like way. Well, he was after all a 10-year-old boy trapped in a 17-year-old body, right?

"Alright children, break it up," said a mildly amused voice. They turned and saw Lily Evans in al her redheaded glory giving them the 'look'. Her arms akimbo, her green eyes traveled from the notes still in the air to the crumbs on Sirius's robes and the exasperated look on Aria's face.

"He started it!" Aria pointed to Sirius. She turned her back to him and Lily sighed audibly.

"People, you are 16 and 17 respectively, not nine and ten!" Lily said exasperatedly. Sirius looked at her suspiciously.

"Just how long were you spying on us?" he asked. He lowered his hand but kept a death grip on the notes. Aria eyed her notes with apprehension.

"Enough for me to persuade Dumbledore to send you to join the first-years," she said, rolling her eyes upwards. "In any case, both of you are going to be late for class. You know who twitchy Professor McGonagall gets when were late for Transfiguration."

"I just want my notes back dammit!" Aria said, launching a fresh attack on Sirius and this time actually twisting his arm that was now behind his back. She pinched him with her sharp fingernails and he gave a piercing shriek. He let go of her notes and she stooped to pick her notes up.

"Never mess with a girl who has long nails. Thank God I filed them last night," she said huffily. Sirius looked at his forearm that had marks of her sharp nails.

"Bloody hell, woman! That will leave a mark!" he said, gingerly touching the red area. He looked murderously at her.

"It's just a teeny-weeny nail mark, Sirius. Grow up. Both of you. Now c'mon, were going to be late for class," Lily said, all the while taking care to put distance between the two feuding friends. Although they both could hold up a grudge, they would normally be civilized to each other by the end of the day. Aria walked away with her head up high while Sirius just stared after her.

"Bloody hell, what just happened there?" he asked in amazement. Lily rolled her eyes again and went to catch up with her best friend.

* * *

"Ah yes, Ms Evans, Ms Merall and Mr. Black. How nice of you to join us," Professor McGonagall said coolly as they tried to enter the class without her noticing. They froze on the spot as 6th year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw turned to look at the source of their teacher's displeasure. Aria straightened up and held her chin high.

"In defense of myself, professor, I was harassed by Mr. Black," she said and stalked off to her seat. Lily grinned feebly while Sirius could only gape, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"Uh, I went to look for her, professor," Lily said and immediately crossed the room to join her best friends, namely Aria, Michaela Rossi and Siobhan O'Keefe. She shot Sirius a smirk that clearly said 'You're on your own, buddy'.

"Well then. In defense of _myself_, I was not harassing her, professor. I was merely asking for her assistance in advance to prepare for my NEWT next year." He said, giving the Transfiguration teacher his best winning smile.

"I can hardly believe that, Mr. Black. I seem to remember that you only revise approximately one week before the date of the examination!" she said, reprimanding him in front of his peers. He at least had the grace to look sorry for himself. He shuffled over to where his friends and fellow Marauders James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew sat. He high-fived James and settled between him and Remus.

"Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted, this summer holidays will be slightly different for those of you who are Muggle-born and those that take Muggle Studies," Professor McGonagall began. When she noticed that the attention sharpened, she continued. "For the last month of summer holidays before back to school, you will be taking part in a NEWT Project. Wizards and witched will be crossing the barriers and will join the Muggle-born for, shall I say, student exchange of sorts."

If she could, she would've continued.

Her words were drowned by the uproar that broke out. Everywhere you could see students reacting differently to the piece of news. Some cheered (Finally! I've been waiting for that for all my life!), some protested (Professor! It's the holidays! Ho-li-days! Y'know, where you kick back and relax?), while some just settled for politely puzzled (Huh?). Professor McGonagall raised her hands to quite them so she could continue.

"This is the first year that any program like this has ever been done before. On the 1st of August, wizards and witches that take up Muggle Studies will be sent to a Muggle-born with or wizards home. This experience will help you greatly in achieving a better grade for your Muggle Studies subject. The hosts, however, will enjoy an added percentage to your overall grades. Your parents have been notified of this program and they are more than willing to let you participate, so you do not have any say in this matter," she explained. The students around her groaned in response. "Any questions?" she asked and several hands immediately shot up.

"Do we at least get to choose who we want to be paired up with?" Anna Belria asked.

"Sorry, you do not as when we sent the owls to your parents, it contained full details of the whom, what, when and where the program will take place. Next question?" Professor McGonagall asked. They groaned again. Imagine being stuck in the same house with your mortal enemy for a whole month. Wonderful.

"How is the pairing like, professor?" Remus asked. He twirled a quill between his fingers and kicked Sirius to stop him from laughing.

"You will be paired up from someone who is of your own House, but some of the pairing are co-ed pairing. Anyone else?" she asked.

"Yeah, professor, can we bring along our teddy bear for this exchange program?" someone from behind the class yelled. The class broke out into laughter but the teacher was not amused.

"You can bring your train set and your comfort blanket for all I care, Mr. Henry. Now, are there anymore serious questions?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

"Why does anyone want to ask to questions about me? If they want to know so much, just go to anyone form my fan-club!" Sirius said, adding in his two cents worth.

"5 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "Please check your bulletin board in your common rooms at 6 and you will find a list on who you will be paired up with. Class dismissed."

And they filed out like a nest of ants attracted to a glob of honey.

* * *

Lily Evans was sitting on her favorite chair by the fire reading her favourite novel for the 8th time. She was so engrossed she didn't realize that her friends had snuck up on her and put multi-coloured confetti on her hair. When a coloured paper fell on to her book and sneezed, she shook her head and muttered "Immature". As she shook her head, more dazzling party favours fell onto her book and immediately started sneezing everywhere. The more she shook her head, the more sneezes could be heard, sometimes right even in her ear that made her jump with fright. She spun around in her chair and saw Siobhan running up the stairs, giggling madly. Michaela was trying to hide her smile unsuccessfully as Siobhan ran past her.

Laughing and shaking her head to rod of the last remnants of sneezing confetti, Lily threw her book aside and chased her best friend right into their dorm. She took out her wand, muttered a spell and Siobhan started hiccupping uncontrollably.

"Ar-hic-gh!" she yelped, or rather, hiccupped. "Li-hic-ly! Get this -hic- spell off -hic me!" she tried to say. By this time, Michaela, or Mike came running in with Aria in tow behind her. They fell down on the floor laughing as this time, Siobhan's hiccupping was punctuated by her face turning a different colour everytime. Giggling, Lily restored Siobhan to her normal state. Siobhan sat down on her bed to catch her breath while the other three were still laughing on the floor.

"That was not funny!" Siobhan protested, poking her throat gingerly.

"Yeah, and confetti that sneezes in your ear is not funny either," Lily said, rolling her eyes as she sat down on her bed and she, too, giggled.

"Hey, I thought it was a pretty good idea!" Siobhan said indignantly.

"That and the coughing cough sweets. Pretty good, Shiv," Michaela said, still giggling. They all laughed again, remembering the trick sweets that Siobhan had offered to Remus when he was having a coughing fit. That had landed her in detention for a whole day, but she still got a kick out of it.

"Hey, what's all that commotion out there?" Aria asked, turning her heads towards the door that was left slightly ajar.

"No idea," Lily said, crossing the room. She opened the door, and saw that most of the 6th years were crowding around the notice board.

"Hey girls, the parings are out!" she said to her friends. With a whoosh, Aria, Siobhan and Mike rushed out of the room, leaving Lily gaping at the door.

"Wait for me," she muttered to herself, closing the door behind her. She walked down the stairs, taking care not to trip over. As she reached the landing, the sight that greeted her overwhelmed her. Obviously there were a _lot_ of mis-pairings, as most of them were crying on their friends' shoulders, or else looking outraged and arguing with another person.

"Lil-ly! I got paired up with Sirius! Of all people! Argh!" Aria cried in frustration the moment she saw her best friend come into view.

"Oh dear," Lily said, a grin coming to her lips.

"You're not helping!" Aria said in a sing-song voice, although her face was looking mutinous.

"Sorry, Aria. Who else is hit by the unlucky charm?"

"By the looks of it, everyone," Aria muttered, huffily blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "Although, James is looking quite smug over there."

"Looks like he got his flavour of the month, huh, Aria?" Lily said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah. Well, I'm off. Have to look for Sirius. No doubt he's sucking face with some poor third year lass that will he will have dumped by the end of the week," Aria said.

"You're going to talk to him?" Lily asked.

"More like scream at him," Aria smirked.

"But that will not change the pairings. I mean, it's not like _he_ chose who he wanted to live with," Lily said with a frown.

"I know. I'll feel much better after screaming at him, though. See you in a bit," Aria said, and left the room with a dark look coming over her. Lily laughed, and pushed her way through the noisy common room in order to get to the notice board. As she passed the fireplace, she noticed Siobhan and Remus deep in discussion.

"Hey, you two. Comparing partners or discussing about your future together?" she asked with a sly grin at Siobhan. The four girlfriends knew about Siobhan's massive crush on Remus.

"Merely discussing what to do during the holidays," Siobhan said nonchalantly, although her face said 'Don't push it'.

"You two got paired?" Lily asked in surprised. Well, that was something. Siobhan must be over the moon.

"Yes, we did. At least I got paired with someone who has decent head on his shoulders for once," Siobhan replied, shuddering as she remembered her less fun pairings. Once, she got paired with Lucius Malfoy in Charms, and he ended setting fire to her hair. When she got paired with Trent Hout for Potions, they both somehow managed to partially burn the dungeon.

"Good for you then, Shiv," Lily said, giving her a wink.

"For once!" Remus said, cracking up as he, too, recalled her mis-pairings.

Laughing, Lily once again made her trek. However, something was blocking her way. Something big, tall and... breathing?

"Lily," it said. She looked up and suppressed a groan. She took and automatic step back and crossed her arms. How she hated him. Him and his arrogant smile, his taunting eyes, his lean body but his attitude, his attitude could match Lucifer's any day.

"James," she said, coolly, regarding him with her equally cool green eyes.

"Lovely to see you," he said, grinning.

"Likewise," she said, not in the mood for chat anymore.

"I suppose you haven't seen whom your housemate for the summer is yet, huh?" he asked, his chocolate eyes twinkling.

"Great observation, Sherlock. May I pass now?" she asked, her eyes going colder.

"Nope. Not until you say the magic word," he said, still grinning at her. She resisted the urge to punch him.

"Please?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"You may pass," he said, his deep voice intoned in an otherworldly tone. She rolled her eyes again, and walked pass him.

"Hey Lily?" James said and she passed him. She stopped in her tracks but did not turn around.

"Yes, James?" she said exasperatedly.

"We're going to have so much fun this summer," he cackled evilly. It took a full minutes for the effect of his words to penetrate her skull. Slowly she turned around and regarded him with big eyes. The smirk on his face grew more profound and she found herself wishing that the earth would just swallow him up.

"Oh dear God, no," she whispered. The growing smirk prompted her to run to the board. She pushed the last few people that were crowding around it, and what she saw made her heart sink right through her body.

_Lily Evans: Housemate – James Potter _

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**Review, review! Plenty of thanks in advance again!!**


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